Tag: 4 Stars

Dusted Off: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

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On March 12, 2011

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Flavia de Luce, #1)The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I don’t know why so many of the reviews/recommendations I’ve read for this book compare the hero, Flavia de Luce, to Lisbeth Sanders. I guess it’s because they’re both not your typical female mystery protagonist. The comparison doesn’t seem fair — I know which one I’d like my sons to marry (seriously, if she has a granddaughter…). On the other hand, I know which one I’d like walking home with my daughter after dark, too.

Anyway, I need to get back on task, this, by gum, was a fun read with an utterly charming hero that deserves all the accolades and awards it’s getting.

Our 11-year-old hero (no, this is not a kid’s book [not that there’s anything inappropriate for anyone who’s made it through Rowling here]) is a budding, self-taught, chemist with a curious mind and a stubborn streak a mile wide. Her family life is a mess — but in a charming, amusing, English countryside way — but our plucky gal has managed to get through it pretty much intact and for the better.

So when she discovers a body on her lawn, yet the police shoo her away from the crime scene and dismiss her, she starts her own investigation. She’s helped early on by a fact or two the police didn’t obtain from her, and some that she kept to herself out of spite. Her father’s arrest for the murder just adds fuel to her fire and becomes determined not only to solve the case before the police but to make them eat a good-sized helping of crow.

Probably not much of a spoiler to say that’s exactly what she does, because the book’s not about that foregone conclusion, but in watching Flavia do that while making less than flattering observations about her older sisters.

Highly recommended.

Dusted Off: Dead Waters by Anton Strout

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On March 1, 2011

In Anton Strout, Fiction, Urban Fantasy

Dead Waters (Simon Canderous, #4)Dead Waters by Anton Strout

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dead Waters displays the growth of Anton Strout as a novelist as much as it shows Simon Canderous’ growth as a person. This fourth installment in the Simon Canderous series is (like each installment before) better than its predecessors — which works out great for me, because I’ve enjoyed all four of them.

The best part of this series (next to the characters) is the way Strout mixes magic into the real world. The adversary in this go ’round brings the challenge in the best mix of magic, myth and technology I can remember. Worth the read just for this.

The humor sprinkled (sometimes heavily) throughout the tale isn’t forced, like I think it was earlier in the series. It flows from the characters and the situations naturally.

Simon’s partner, Connor, still doesn’t get as much screen time as he should, but the partnership does seem stronger this go around — and Connor’s character feels more like a person. Maybe its because Connor’s family situation is a bit more settled, or maybe it’s just the nature of the case. Doesn’t matter, it’s a lot of fun.

Speaking of fun, Jane, Simon’s girlfriend really gets to strut her stuff magically here, frankly, I’d love to read a solo adventure or two featuring her. More pressing for our hero, however, is the fact that she’s putting pressure on him to deepen their relationship — which causes Simon to go through a good amount of maturing (or at least to consider it).

The ending of Dead Waters is one I should’ve seen coming, it was telegraphed like crazy. BUT, I’d spent most of the book convinced Strout was telegraphing something else, so what do I know? Frankly, I’m not crazy about the major character development that happened at the end, I’m afraid it will lead to this series losing some of what sets it apart from the rest of the genre and become a little more like typical Urban Fantasies. But I figure Strout’s gonna pull this off right and show me I’m worrying for nothing.

I should add here, that almost immediately after finishing this, I sent a tweet Strout’s way bemoaning the ending, and in only a few minutes got a reply that made me laugh. Gotta love an author who’ll take a moment for a fan and this Internet thingy that makes that interaction possible.

Dusted Off: Blood Drive by Jeanne C. Stein

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On February 15, 2011

In Authors, Fiction, Jeanne C. Stein, P-U, Urban Fantasy

Blood Drive (Anna Strong Chronicles, #2)Blood Drive by Jeanne C. Stein

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is not the follow-up to The Becoming Anna Strong Chronicles 1 that I expected, it’s a lot better. Something struck me odd about the way Stein included the detail about our heroine’s dead brother in the first book, and I should’ve realized she was planting a seed.

The seed, no pun intended, is what just may be her brother’s heretofore unknown daughter. Her brother’s girlfriend at the time of his death appears, asking for Anna’s help tracking down her runaway daughter, claiming it’s Anna’s niece. Before Anna can start looking, the girl’s best friend turns up murdered in a grisly fashion with hints of the supernatural. While looking for the girl and trying to find the murderer, Anna deepens her understanding and awareness of the supernatural world that she’s now a part of, and is reminded that perhaps the greatest monsters are merely human.

Great pacing, taught writing, good action–and even though I knew the identity of the bad guy at least one hundred pages before Anna did, I was on the edge of my seat.

The big issue that Urban Fantasy writers have to deal with his how to treat vampires (at least those authors that deal with vampires). Some leave them as horrid monsters, most find some way of toning down the whole vicious, blood-drinking, killer aspect. Stein doesn’t do that, yet. If Anna ends up toning down the animalistic nature of her protagonist, it will be as a result of a lot of trial and error, and stubborn choices she makes. While I hope Anna never becomes someone that I want Ms. Summers and the Scooby gang to track down, I hope she doesn’t turn off that aspect of her nature like a light switch.

I’m more than a little bothered by the dynamics between Anna and her boyfriend, and Anna and her partner, if Stein doesn’t resolve or change them soon, it’s really going to drag the series down. But I’m inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt.

I don’t know why I keep comparing this series to the Rachel Morgan books as I read them, but I do. And, Anna Strong comes out looking better and better each time I do. I’m really looking forward to seeing where she takes this.

Dusted Off: Agatha H and the Airship City by Phil & Kaja Foglio

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On January 28, 2011

In Fiction, Science Fiction, Steampunk

Agatha H and the Airship CityAgatha H and the Airship City by Phil Foglio

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’ve recently discovered–and become a fan of–the Foglios Girl Genius comics, doing so just before the release of the first novelization of the series was a nice bit of fortuitous timing.

There’s a part of me that wonders if they’ve been wasting their time, the Foglios have a wonderful, playful way of using their words. Certain phrases, sentences, and even whole paragraphs are filled with a whimsy that just makes me smile. Little things like:

“Now I am in control!” He followed this statement with a burst of laughter that showed the owner had done a fair share of gloating in his time, and had the basics down pat.

If you’ve read the comics, you’re not going to find a lot new here–they fill out some details here and there, spell out some things that the reader had to assume, that sort of thing. I honestly don’t know if someone who hadn’t read at least some of the comics could visualize the clanks, airships, Jägermonsters, etc. That’s the closest I can come to a negative to point out about this novel.

Full of laughs, romance, adventure, strong (and smart!) female characters, this is one fun read. Bring on the further adventures of Agatha and co.!

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Dusted Off: The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman

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On January 26, 2011

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

The ImperfectionistsThe Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’m not sure I’m up to writing up my thoughts on this book, they seem pretty inadequate…but if I don’t do it now, I probably won’t at all. This is a really good book, a love letter to a medium that’s (almost certainly) dying and a rich character study. Touching, funny, moving, and more than capable of throwing a surprise at you.

At the center of the novel is an international English language newspaper based in Rome. The story of this paper, from its founding in the 50’s through its coverage of the U.S. Invasion of Iraq is told in brief (2-3 page) spurts between chapters telling us about the people who read and/or work for (and/or their families) the paper.

More than once, I was astounded by how invested I could be in a character I just met by the end of one of those chapters–each of these really could be a short story unto themselves. But when looked at as a whole–once you reach the end–it is a well-crafted novel, not just a series of semi-related short stories.

That’s not to say that all the chapters are great–there were a couple that almost missed the mark, and a one flat-out dud (I felt I’ve read the story of the novice reporter being taken advantage of by the veteran a few dozen times).

From the other reviews I’ve read (at goodreads and elsewhere), it’s easy to oversell or overhype this book–and I don’t want to do that, nor do I want to undersell it. It’s very good–not fantastic–not a “must read”, but a “really, really should read.”

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Dusted Off: The Sentry by Robert Crais

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On January 18, 2011

In Authors, Elvis Cole/Joe Pike, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Robert Crais

The Sentry (Joe Pike)The Sentry by Robert Crais

Series: Elvis Cole, #12/Joe Pike, #3
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

So the third Joe Pike novel starts off with him gassing up his Jeep and noticing that across the street that a couple of gang-bangers are up to no good at a sandwich shop. Pike decides to intervene, roughs up the ruffians little (well, by Pike’s standards). The shop owner isn’t grateful, but his niece sure is.

Pike senses an instant connection with her, the kind of connection that he hasn’t felt in a long, long time. Where some guys will do something to show off for a gal, try to impress them, Pike decides to get the gang to back off what what seems to be a straightforward protection racket. And it seems to work, very easily.

Which of course, is where things go very, very badly for all involved. The woman and her uncle go missing, so Pike sets off to find her, rescue her from whatever she needs rescuing from and brings Elvis along for the ride. A twisty, nothing is as it seems (at least twice), ride.

More than maybe any other Pike/Elvis or Elvis/Pike novel, this one is about the friendship between these two men. Yeah, there’s the action, the mystery, the bullets (MINOR SPOILER: far, far fewer than we’ve come accustomed to Pike using), and so on. But at the core, this is about the bond tying Pike and Elvis together.

Told in Crais’ (sadly) now-typical shifting perspectives, the action, once it starts, doesn’t relent. I flew through this book without realizing it. The only thing that kept me from finishing it in one setting was forcing myself to put it down so I could get a few winks before work. The best of the Pike books so far, better than a couple of Elvis books, too.

Perfect book for immersing yourself into to get out of a crappy day.

Waiting for the next book from Crais, if only he could write faster…

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